The Legendary Dopod 900

Since few weeks ago, I was in search of a new gadget to replace my Dopod 900 since it has shown signs of malfunction (the red cancel button need to be pressed few times just to disconnect active phone calls).

After an exhaustive search, I conclude that there is no product as compelling as my Dopod 900. The Nokia high-end series (9300, 9500, etc), which many people regarded as prestigious or exclusive gadget, just don’t have touch screen. Samsung’s dual standby handphone, W579, was really compelling. It has touchscreen and eliminates the need of another CDMA phone. But unfortunately, although set at premium price, W579 just don’t have Wifi feature. In short, there is no match for Dopod 900 which had the widest screen, rotated screen, built-in keyboard, Wifi and 3G, all in one gadget.

Dopod recently has launched its 900 successor, the U1000. I have tried the product myself. It really really compelling, combining 3.5G, GPS, 3MP Camera and a VGA/TV-Out (yes, impress your client just simply connect U1000 to viewer). For a plain businessperson like me, I’d say this U1000 is a state-of-the-art, really no match with Nokia.

On the counterpart, I can sense some drawbacks: to quickly write SMS without touch-screen, you need to take and plug the keyboard (it is really quick on Dopod 900 since keyboard is already built-in). to make phonecalls, you cannot tap it on your ears just like Dopod 900, you must always bring the bluetooth headset.